Detroit Tigers Links 10/15: Bouncing Back After Heartbreak

Oct 12, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Detroit Tigers first baseman Prince Fielder (28) is unable to make a catch near the stands during the ninth inning in game two of the American League Championship Series baseball game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Assigning Responsibility for David Ortiz – FanGraphs

Three of Joaquin Benoit’s splitters Sunday night were more or less fine. One was atypically flat, and it’s a splitter Red Sox fans might be seeing for the rest of their lives. It’s yet to be determined just how well this showdown will be remembered, but the potential is there for this to be recalled as something legendary. Give just a few inches, and you can bring a team to life.

Tigers’ loss highlights baseball’s luck factor – Bless You Boys

In order for the Red Sox to win last night, a lot of things had to go their way, and rather inexplicably, they did. In the wake of a sucker-punch loss like that, we tend to want to analyze it, pin-point exactly what went wrong, assign blame if necessary, and at all costs try to make some logical sense of what just happened. That’s human nature, of course. In the face of some unthinkable situation suddenly becoming reality, we have to make sense of it, or else embrace the madness of total chaos and randomness.

Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera shows signs of power resurgence – Detroit News

“I think he’s better,” Leyland said. “But like I’ve been saying for quite a while, he’s not going to be 100 percent the rest of the season.”

Verlander feels that the biggest indicator of Cabrera’s physical improvement was “the ball he turned on in Oakland, the game I started.”

No need to panic – Detroit Tigers still in great position, now with home-field in ALCS – Detroit Free Press

Sorry to disappoint the doomsayers, but Game 2 wasn’t a disaster. The Tigers still accomplished their primary objective entering the first weekend of the ALCS, splitting the first two games at Boston at the very least. They have home-field edge the remaining five games. Take care of their business the next three days and they’re heading back to the World Series for the third time in the past eight years.